WarGames – WOPR Android Review

Be-Rad Entertainment has the rights to the official WarGames – WOPR mobile game for iOS and Android devices. This is the third game from Be-Rad Entertainment. Below is the description from their website:

“Step into the role of the iconic WOPR computer as you wage intense battles of Global Thermonuclear War against characters from the movie. Take on David Lightman (played by Matthew Broderick), Jennifer Mack (played by Ally Sheedy), McKittrick (played by Dabney Coleman), and others.”

This brings to mind a variety of questions about this game. What type of game-play will it be? Are you serious that I get to battle against the characters from the game? Global Thermonuclear War on my mobile device? How awesome is that! When launching this game you are greeted with the familiar and spooky sounds of David Lightman’s computer asking you, “Shall we play a game?”

Gameplay:

The game-play is nothing what I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a match-type game. Not your typical match 3, but match up to however many like-items you can in a row. I would have to compare this to the PS Mobile game Loot The Land as the game-play is very similar in the fact that you drag and select multiple matches any way you can. This is done by dragging your finger across the touch-screen. The more you match the more you get to either heal yourself, add to your radar which if you reach 100% of the blue radars you get to choose a power-up to attack your enemy, heal yourself or attack enemy pieces on the playfield for x amount of damage. It may not seem like there is too much strategy involved in this type of game, but I found myself thinking about what move I make now and how will that affect me in future turns.

After winning a “round” you are awarded with kb, the games “currency” and depending on how well you did determines the amount of “kb” you receive. This can then be used to purchase MODS or TACTICS that add to your strategy during game-play You can alternatively purchase more “kb” in-game from Be-Rad, but the game is winnable by just choosing to try to win the “kb” so you can upgrade and/or purchase more MODS/TACTICS. There are mini-games along the way, one that I encountered was a Poker style game where you had to match suits of a deck of cards with missiles mixed in with timers counting down the amount of time until you are attacked. The idea in this mode is to get the “missiles” to the bottom of the play field before the counter reaches zero. It was a nice addition to the match style and quite difficult to master as I played it on Hard Difficulty and took me about 5 attempts to pass it. Some of the TACTICS that I used were a missile, when used costs $20 in-game and it gathers together all available missiles on the play-field and attacks my opponent with them equaling -1 HP for every missile used. The TANK TACTIC removes a whole row from the play-field and the GRENADE TACTIC destorys everything within 1 space of where you place it. MODS are used when your BLUE RADAR reaches 100% you get to select a MOD to use against your opponent. There is quite a bit to do in this game and strategy sure does come into play.

The final outcome is to unlock the Launch Codes as it was WOPR’s main objective in the movie. There is no mulit-player option for this game. There is an “ENDLESS MODE” that pits you against each character in succession and every time you beat one of the characters the hit points for the next challenger increases by 1. So your first enemy has a 1/1 hit point and the next level is 2/2 etc. This is a nice welcome change to the STORY mode.

Graphics/Sound:

Graphics are presented to show what I remember from the “Protovison” graphics from the movie, as Be-Rad Entertainment has gotten the rights from MGM Studios to produce this game. The presentation is exactly what I would have expected from WOPR including the sounds of text going across the screen. The background music was enjoyable and only added to the tension of the moment while I was playing. The only omission is voice acting, but it is presented as old-school style text adventure with a “skip” button for those that do not nor want to follow the story. I used the skip option after I had a hard time passing a level.

Final Thoughts:

I would have to say I was very surprised at the level of detail and immersion I felt playing this game. I have taken to playing a level or two when I get a chance during the day. This is probably one of the best Officially Licensed games I’ve played in a long time. Your return on investment with this is high, as it costs less than a dollar. I’ve played some mobile games on my phone and this is by far one of the best I’ve gotten my hands on. This is highly recommended if you enjoy Bejeweled type games and replay value is high as well.

I am an avid gamer and I play about 15-25 hours a week. I have been passionate about games since I was little. My first home console was a PONG light game and have been playing video games since. Actually, any type of game from Board Games to Word Games are not of my radar. I will play just about anything, but Racing games are my favorite.